Dia: Beacon - John Chamberlain
I don't really "get" John Chamberlain's Installation at Dia:Beacon; even after reading Dia's introduction, however, it does remind me of the discussions in Thesis class on January 23rd where Bruce mentioned how classic cars use to be much clearer in the use of materials. E.g. bumpers use to be chrome, or actual chrome plated metal and not plastic? Bumpers were discretely visible from the rest of the body. Google Images
Dia: Beacon - Richard Serra
The "Installation View" and the "Union of the Torus and the Sphere" at Dia: Beacon is really a site to see. At first I was hesitant to get close but I did eventually notice a gap between the torus segment and the wall, which I took as a cue that it was ok to into the sculptures… perhaps a bit too subtle? The scale of the sculpture, the texture of the material and a general "cold feeling" gives clues that they are made of iron or steel. The Union of the Torus and the Sphere does not reveal whether or not the segments are solid or composed of sheet metal. There are four more pieces installed in the mezzanine. As I walked into them, I'm reminded of the bent paper exercise from 3D II -- relationships between surfaces, negative space, light, shadow… it was fascinating because of its scale. Here, the user gets to see the thickness of the steel sheets - at least an inch, perhaps an inch and a half.
Here are some photos from Google Images.
Other Resources
Table 2 - Week 2 Update
After drawing some thinking sketches for a while, I decided to create a Solidworks model to help me visualize more clearly what I had imagined.
It is becoming extremely clear to me that this project isn't just going to be about form. Function is also going to be a major component to this design. Here is a rough concept of the table top. Tomorrow, I'll need to figure out a stable structure for the legs -- It must not wobble.
Also. I think I must collect images of people's desktops to see how people really work these days.
Walter de Maria: Earth Room
Walter de Maria's The New York Earth Room is located very close to the Broken Kilometer in SOHO. Visiting this installation made me think about how broad of a definition I should have for "materials" especially the use of "dirt" filling an entire room/apartment, on the second floor, and all the way up to the windowsill, provokes quite a variety of questions.
Why?!
What is it suppose to mean?
It's been here since 1977?! Who's maintaining it? Do they have to weed it? What do the rats and mice of the neighborhood think?
The dirt looks loose, when the person maintains it, does s/he sink into the room?
Is there really that much dirt? or is it faked?
Walter de Maria: Broken Kilometer
I have a dislike for museums and art galleries that disallow photos to be taken of the space and artwork. I understand it's to protect the artwork from being illegally duplicated and sold, however, the intent of any exhibition is to show off the work, then having photos taken of it to be shared with the world should serve as free publicity that draws attention to the artist, the artwork, and of course the museum or gallery.
To see a glimpse of what this exhibit about while I comment on it as it pertains to my thoughts and understanding as it pertains to my research, please search "Walter de Maria Broken Kilometer" on Google Images.
As described by the Dia Art Foundation flyer, the Broken Kilometer is composed of 500 highly polished, round, solid brass rods, each measuring two meters in length and five centimeters in diameter. The rods are placed in five parallel rows of 100 rows each. The sculpture weighs 18-3/4 tons and would measure 3,280 feet if all the elements were laid end to end. Each rod is placed such that the space between the rods increase by 5 millimeters with each consecutive space, from front to back; the first rods of each row are placed 80 millimeters apart, the last two rods are placed 580 millimeters apart. Metal halide stadium lights illuminate the work, which is 45 feet wide and 125 feet long. There is a companion piece in Kassel, Germany called "Vertical Earth Kilometer" - A brass rod of the same diameter, total weight, and totally length has been inserted 1,000 meters into the ground. It was installed in 1977, two years before the Broken Kilometer.
http://www.diacenter.org/sites/main/53
From a materials perspective, without knowing the total tonnage of the sculpture, I could imagine how heavy each one of these rods must feel. I did not notice the change in spacing as I looked towards the back, but I did wonder how far away from the viewing position could the artist have replaced those brass rods with some kind of substitute that looked exactly the same?
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision
It's funny that in the three years I lived in the DC area, I never visited the Vietnam Memorial. It's not that I didn't want to go, it's more like I didn't want to deal with the scores of tourists visitors that frequent the memorials every day. On hindsight, I probably should have tried at 6am in the morning, which, by the way, is the way to see cherry blossoms when they flower.
When I heard about the scene where Maya Lin took a piece of glass her size and weight, put it in a plastic bag, and then broke it, I thought that was quite a … strange thing to do. Then, I saw the video, then it made so much more sense. There are so many metaphor one can draw from the piece. And of course the instructions she gave to the shipping person could be whole other set of metaphors.
I think the documentary deserved every award it received as well as its subject. For me, the Vietnam War Memorial, the Civil Rights Memorial, and the Yale Women's Table were similar in the way that she used the materials in a way that the visitors can go right up to the piece and touch it. I think I'm going to need to go to one of these installations to see what it's like.
Looking for modern desks at Vitra
Mark had mentioned Bouroullec Brother's Joyn system during the class crit on Tuesday so I decided to go to Vitra to find out more about it.
At first I couldn't find the system in the West Village Showroom, but I did find a other systems on display.
It seems we have come a long way from just having a hole by the corner of the table. Note the white rectangle behind the iMac. Looks promising, plenty of space for power and cables, though the user probably wouldn't put the iMac on the opening...
Indeed! 4 outlets, grounded, and even space for ethernet or other data outlets on the side.
Another smaller system...
This one has a cloth based "hide-away" system that doesn't look too difficult to access if needed, though I wonder if I unhook one bungee, does the all the cable flop out?
And finally when I did eventually find the Joyn system with the help of the sales staff, here's what's underneath...
This one is like having a ethernet raceway underneath the table. Seems to make sense. Looks like there are a lot of parts that come together to make the table. I wonder how it stands user abuse though time.
I wonder if I can find a system being used in the real world.